Nathalie Gingras-Royer, a master’s graduate in vision sciences from Université de Montréal, is working on the development of an inclusive technology that will address the needs of people with visual impairment. As part of her master’s, she took part in the Mitacs Accelerate program to carry out an internship with VMWare, a company that provides virtualisation and cloud computing software and services. 

People with disabilities in Quebec will soon have a way to get out and enjoy outdoor activities safely, thanks to a first-of-its-kind online platform — currently under development at Université Laval-based Centre interdisciplinaire de recherche en réadaptation et intégration sociale (Cirris) — that will match them with support volunteers in their community. 

Thierry Judge, a master’s student in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Sherbrooke, has developed a technology that identifies when results generated by emerging artificial intelligence (AI) systems — which speed up analysis of ultrasound images to detect heart disease — are incorrect or uncertain. The software, called CRISP, is currently being tested by Oxford, UK-based, Ultromics Ltd, a leader in AI echocardiography. 

While Juliette Champeil pursues her PhD in Chemical Engineering at Laval University, she also serves as co-founder and CEO of her bioengineering start-up, Ivano Bioscience. The company is advancing Champeil’s breakthrough innovation: ready-to-use lab test kits that come pre-loaded with bioengineered artificial cells and viruses designed to mimic real life. The test kits speed up the process for testing new vaccines, helping them get to market faster. 

Speedy solution 

Karina Gasbarrino uses AI to tackle the second-leading cause of death and third-leading cause of disability worldwide – stroke. Her journey started more than a decade ago when she lost her grandfather to a sudden stroke. Since then, she has devoted her academic career to his memory, helping to advance early detection and diagnosis of harmful fatty deposits in the arteries of the neck. Rupturing of these plaques is the main cause of strokes. 

Dagoberto Torres García, a biotechnology student at Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico, is spending the summer in Quebec putting his knowledge and expertise in DNA extraction and PCR testing to help identify which insects are carrying a bacterium responsible for spreading a new, harmful disease affecting strawberry fields in Quebec, in Canada, and around the world.

The technology revolution has had a monumental impact on the lives of Canadians and people around the world. From increased access to information, better means of communication, and the deployment of innovative solutions to some of our most pressing challenges, the effects and advantages of technology cannot be ignored.

Sofia Addab, Jean-Gabriel Lacombe, and Georgia Powell are master’s students in the Department of Experimental Surgery at McGill University in Montréal. During a shared internship shadowing medical staff in the emergency room at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, the trio quickly identified that the time-consuming practice of calculating correct doses of IV medication by hand was leading to potential mistakes and disrupting workflow at critical points during the intake of trauma cases in the hospital’s emergency room, posing serious safety risks to children.  

Former Mitacs postdoctoral researcher Dr. Ulrich Legrand understands that the world is facing major challenges due to climate change. He also knows that decision-makers are looking for solutions to the global crisis while driving economic growth

“Governments and businesses agree that reducing emissions is the right thing to do to protect the environment, but at the same time, they want to see a financial benefit,” Dr. Legrand says. And he has developed a first-of-its-kind technology that does just that.

Negin Ashouri is on a mission to elevate women’s quality of life, one medical device at a time. Through her business FemTherapeutics, she created an innovative, made-to-measure, biodegradable, and disposable intravaginal prosthetic called a pessary to help women suffering from pelvic organ prolapse (POP).